Smashing Pumpkins, Zeitgeist

As capable of real elegance as being a pretentious, crashing bore, Billy Corgan, one suspects, has reformed the Pumpkins - in fact, only him and one other former member - to escape the indifference that greeted his solo record. Zeigeist largely avoids the often comic excesses of later Pumpkins records, and it is not as anonymous as his the output of his interim alt.rock supergroup, Zwan. But calling an album Zeitgeist is a terrible idea unless you're really up to speed with popular culture, and Zeitgeist most fully displays Corgan's roots as a nerdy, 70s stadium-rock fan. His whine hasn't mellowed with age, and there are some truly horrible guitar effects, but if you remember the unconsciously naff hilarity of late-period Suede, you will recognise that there's some fun to be had from Zeitgeist, albeit in small quantities.